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Looking at this photo it’s hard to believe that anyone made it out alive, but most did.
"Marie, my cousin, had a fractured skull... She was in bad shape for a while... It was quite bad, poor Marie." - Anna Bella Landry BradleyAt the time of the Halifax Explosion, my grandfather’s first cousin Marie Burke (age 13) was in her sixth-grade classroom located on the stage of the auditorium on the top floor of St Joseph’s School. The force of the explosion would blow off part of the roof above the classroom, causing the collapse of two over-sized doors onto some of her classmates. Their teacher, Sister Ethelred, with the help of a student named Fudge, were able to free most of the girls, but three had not survived its impact. Along with the doors, beams had let go with one of them striking Marie Burke on the right side the head, crushing her skull.
Marie stated that she had been taken to Victoria General
Hospital where she didn’t regain consciousness for five days. Her stay there would span many weeks. She was diagnosed
with Post Traumatic Epilepsy as a result of her fractured skull.
Years after the explosion Marie moved to the United States where she married Clarence E
Jordan (b 1905), son of Charles (b 1871) and Ida Horne Jordan (b 1879), on
November 12, 1926 in Boston, Massachusetts.
In her 30’s, Marie had brain surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital which left her seizure free.This gave Marie a freedom and self-sufficiency she hadn't known since before the explosion. She was grateful.
In her 30’s, Marie had brain surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital which left her seizure free.This gave Marie a freedom and self-sufficiency she hadn't known since before the explosion. She was grateful.
Marie Burke Jordan (b 1904-1997) is the daughter of Joseph (1864-1917) and Pauline Bouchard Burke (1868-1976). Pauline and my grandfather Joseph Landry’s (1889-1994) mother Charlotte Bouchard Landry (1870-1917) were sisters.
Marie's father Joseph Burke was a Stevedore on Pier 8 the morning of the explosion, December 6, 1917 and his body was never found.
Marie's father Joseph Burke was a Stevedore on Pier 8 the morning of the explosion, December 6, 1917 and his body was never found.
Note:
I'm thankful for my great Aunt Anna Bella Landry Bradley's (1903-2007) sharing of family stories about the Halifax Explosion. She was one of my Grandpa Joe's younger sisters and he kept pretty quiet about it.
Other sources for information in this article - Halifax Relief Commission #393, Archibald MacMechan - Personal narrative Sisters Edevina, Rita, Ethelied, Maria Arilia of St. Joseph's Girls' School (Archibald MacMechan Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 volume 2124 number 18), FamilySearch.org
